Fred Rogers died yesterday. Best known as the star and producer of a children's TV show, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, he was also an unsung hero of fair use. The U.S. Supreme Court cited him in footnote 27 of Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios, the case that legalized the VCR and established the principle that copying technologies with a substantial noninfringing use do not violate U.S. copyright law. Rogers was one many television producers who testified in the case that he welcomed noncommercial home copying. At the time, his show was the most-syndicated program on public television, with an audience of over three million families a day. Here's the portion of his testimony quoted by the Supreme Court:
Some public stations, as well as commercial stations, program the "Neighborhood" at hours when some children cannot use it. I think that it's a real service to families to be able to record such programs and show them at appropriate times. I have always felt that, with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the "Neighborhood" off the air, and I'm speaking for the "Neighborhood" because that's what I produce, that they then become much more active in the programming of their family's television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been "You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions." Maybe I'm going on too long, but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
